Came to Crillon Le Brave so my husband could ride Mt. Ventoux. It also happened to be our anniversary over the weekend we were there. Our first night, we went to Restaurant Vieux du Four (down the hill from the restaurant at Hotel Crillon Le Brave). We found the food and service there to be much better than at the hotel.
The hotel restaurant's food is fancier, but not as well executed as the simpler (but outstanding) fare at Vieux du Four. We also experienced an unpleasant reservation snafu upon arriving for our dinner. Months before, my husband had made reservations for dinner on that night ... then as we sat and drank champagne on the patio before dinner my husband confirmed our reservations. However, when we actually arrived for dinner, neither our name nor our room number were on the reservation sheet and the petite blond was quite unfriendly in telling us that we had to sit in a back row table. While irritating it certainly didn't ruin the night and the view was nearly as good.
The food, was just okay. My husband started with the seasonal summer salad which came with mushrooms, eggplant, and other veggies -- it was okay, but nothing special. He then had the sea bass filet with asparagus and crab ... although the kitchen substituted mussels for the crab without saying anything. This fish was moist but he wasn't wowed by the dish as a whole.
I started with the gazpacho and "forgotten tomatoes" -- the soup was okay, but the forgotten tomatoes were fantastically sweet. I then had the veal filet (the dish came with sweetbreads but i opted out) and artichoke barigoule with a sage jus. The veal was tough and overcooked. The jus and artichokes were nice. My husband and I shared the gratin potatoes -- good but not nearly as creamy and flavorful as the same dish at Vieux du Four.
Overall, a nice anniversary dinner in a spectacular location, but wished the execution of their menu was better. read more
